Peppermint
by Minikimii
Summary: Raito comes back to visit L during the holidays. What happens when they reminisce about their senior prank? Boylove, T for content and mild language, Oneshot


Disclaimer: Death Note belongs to Ohba and Obata.  
Rated T for language and mildly suggestive themes. Err... AU (Alternate Universe) as well.

A short little holiday season fic for anyone who cares to read! -smile- (Mostly for the Alexi-nesh-o-doom!)

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**Peppermint**

Holiday Season. A time when people shared fond memories with family and couples finally confessed their love under the mistletoe. The season of red and white, of peppermint and chocolate, freshly baked cookies that were crisp at the edges with gooey and melted chocolate in the middle. Gifts were given to good children and between lovers. Although he was an Atheist, even L got into the so-called 'spirit'. But that was mostly because of the wonderous invention of peppermint candy canes.

"You should really keep that door locked," a voice called to him from a dimmer area of the open space.

Without turning, he responded, "hello, Raito."

Behind him, the brunet was staring at L with eyes full of what would simply be called a state of calm happiness. It was getting late and the two were ready to wind down for the night. Hot chocolate sat steaming on the small table beside the couch where L perched, staring intently into the fire. The T.V. was on in the background, something that resembled Frosty the Snowman playing gloriously across its high definition screen. Well, as gloriously as Frosty could get (and we all know that's pretty damn glorious).

"It's been so long yet you don't seem surprised to see me," the brunet teased, taking audible steps toward him.

"I am not."

A smile spread across his lips, faint as the glow the fire cast across the room and as equally warming. Raito reveled in its presence, the exposure of such an expression on L's face was an event few and far between. The ambiatic changes in the air were nearly tangible.

"You said you'd be surprised if you saw me at your door this morning."

"Yes, I did. But it is night, Raito. Therefore, I am not surprised."

The strange logic was chuckled at and brushed aside as Raito stepped behind L's couch.

"So how are you? It's been a while since the craziness, hasn't it? How's college?" he inquired, the rustling of paper serving as a small chorus for his voice.

"Too many questions, Raito."

A chuckle followed the statement, causing the smile on L's face to linger much longer than he had originally intended. Embarassment began to creep up on him and he reached toward the table beside him, hoping that the holding of a mug over his pale features would help him both disguise and hopefully expel the rare look on his face. His fingers balanced along the middle section of the thick, white and red swirled mug as he felt another hand close upon his. Encasement of his fingers in warmth was something he seldom felt, so the experience was both slightly shocking, yet strangely pleasant. Neither hand pulled away.

"I got you a gift."

A simple statement, but it made L happy beyond rationality, especially when the giant bag was gently placed in his hand. Minty strawberries and chocolate wafted out of the bag, reflexively casuing L to tilt his head to the right and close his eyes to inhale the aromatic happiness. Perhaps Raito had brought him cake. Or candy?

_It is only a gift,_ he reasoned with himself, _why am I so excited?_

He reached into the bag to find a white box with a black, lace-like pattern sprouting from the corners, converging into an ornate flower at the middle of the top. Opening the box revealed a cake, just the right size for two people (or one very hungry L). An unaturally aromatic strawberry sat atop creme, a decorative swirl of red and white spreading from beneath it. Two mint leaves were underneath the strawberry; enough color to offset and compliment. After silently commending the cake decorator on their craftsmanshiop, he gently set the box beside his hot chocolate. He was about to set the bag on the floor when he felt another weight inside.

" 'A gift?' " he asked, looking to Raito with a questioning expression.

"Well... more like gifts," the brunet admitted, a faint blush heating his cheeks, " remembered how you got back in school when the whole holiday season rolled around. Actually, I have one distinct memory of walking into your room and seeing you roll around in a sea of white and red stripes," he laughed, "I'm pretty sure you finished all of those peppermints by the time I left your house, too."

The seldom seen smile was now permanent on L's lips, a product of reminiscing. Raito motioned for L to search the bag once more. Fishing around the bag once more produced a massive candy cane... stick.

_Stick. Stick? Stick?!_

"Raito, what exactly... is this?"

"A giant stick of pepperminty goodness? You were obsessed with them back in highschool, right?"

L raised an eyebrow, asking, "is that a question?"

Simultaneously, the playful glint of their high school days had returned to their eyes. Raito didn't need to ask, but he felt it was simply apropriate.

"Yes?"

"Why are we speaking in questions?" L asked,

"What?"

"Do you understand what we are doing here?"

"What are we doing?"

"Can you tell me?"

"What do you want me to tell you? Can I say that we're playing this stupid game we used to play back when we were in school together that pissed the hell outta every teacher in our morning classes?"

"Well, 'can you' or 'may you' say it?"

"Are both okay?"

"Maybe?"

"Do you not know?"

"May I simply agree with you while also making the point that it gets quite amusing when one of us runs out of ideas for ways to form sentences?"

"Did you forget that we've had fours years of practice behind us?"

After a few moments of silence, they both laughed. Raito missed their friendly banter. Although they often made it seem like they were in a giant competition with each other, the truth beneath the ploy was that Raito loved being with L. For some reason, ever since highschool, he had spent nearly every one of his waking moments thinking of L. Highschool was a place of social tension and it was hard enough to be able to see his best friend in school. That was where faking their hate for each other had come into play. At school, they were both on the tennis team and practiced only with each other out of 'angry competition' to hone their skills. On the robotics team, they pretended that they needed to work together because they were continuously trying to one up the other person with a better idea on the same model. Even volunteer hours had evened out for the two of them, since they planned everything together. The contest for valedictorian? An even split. It was their way of fucking with both the student body and administration at their old high school and they'd loved every last minute of it.

They had graduated from high school together five years ago.

_Has it really been that long?_ L thought while reaching his hand into the bag, producing an entire handful of peppermint candies. No doubt that there were more in the bag. He unwrapped a crushed one and sprinkled it in his hot chocolate. The sound of soft tapping and rustling in the bag from setting it on the floor told him there were more inside.

"Thank you, Raito," he said, recieving a smile in response, "would you like to share this cake?"

Without needing a reply, they walked to the kitchen of the small apartment. Raito reached up to a random cabinet and opened the wooden door to reach for the two clear glass plates. It was located in the same general place as it was in L's old house. Even though the apartment was smaller, he knew L would do whatever he could to make it feel more familiar and knowing that he was still able to read his best friend so well brought another sweep of joy through his body.

"So how've you been?" he called out to L while rummaging through the drawers for forks.

"I suppose I must say 'good.' How about you? It has been four years since we last met face to face and spoke to each other."

"Really? Well, lately..."

They soon finished their halves of the cake while talking about their old school days. The time they rigged the boys locker room showers to dye the players on football team's skin blue was a favorite, especially when they were sitting in the principal's office as perfect little model student sophomores, denying all alligations. No one ever caught them.

Thinking about the pranks they played made his mind wander to their parting act...

- -

"I... I have an idea."

"Regarding?"

"Our senior prank."

"Graduation is two months away."

"Yeah, but... Ok, L... do you trust me?"

"Of course, Raito-kun. How can I not trust you?"

His eyes lit up, obviously interested in what his best friend had to say, his musician's fingers twirling the lollipop stick around in his mouth. Raito momentarily lost himself as he watched the other male's tongue flick over the clear green of the nearly gone caramel apple pop. He fisted his hands in his shirt.

"Raito."

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry, just got lost in my thoughts. So, uhm... you know how I'm still in the closet... and everything..."

There was only silence as a response.

"Well... I was thinking of coming out to the entire student body."

"And?"

"And I want you to help."

"How?"

_So far, so good, _he thought, a grin spreading across his face.

"Well... how convincingly can you kiss?"

"I do not know. If your prank idea involves kissing, I may need practice..."

"It's okay if you don't want to help-"

"No, this sounds fun. It shall be our great last prank. I will help."

"Really?"

"Of course," he smiled, "administration will hate us for it."

- -

"Ready?" Raito whispered.

They were walking into the gym with the rest of the tennis team. When the small group had spread away to sit in the stands, L and Raito remained in the center of the wooden floors. People were already wondering what was going on. The school already hated public displays of affection. That added to the homophobic school system would be a blast... but that wasn't what Raito had been thinking about.

"Yes," he replied.

Raito turned to the thinner boy and placed a hand on the curve of his jaw. He leaned in and an instant later, he had pressed his body up against the other boy's, tongue tracing the contours of L's mouth, his fingers running through obsidian locks. He felt the arms slung around his neck pull him closer than he had ever felt before, almost as if in need. This was different from when they practiced. He didn't hold back from the kiss anymore and could feel his body heat rising. He diverted from their original plan and moved his lips from L's and over to the other boy's earlobe. He reached a hand up under the other boy's shirt, carressing his torso, eliciting a moan from those sugared lips. There was a gasp from L's lips when Raito traced his fingers up the pale skin and rubed his thumb over a nipple.

"R-raito... I..."

The other boy pulled away from him, blushing, and walked out of the gym. The shocked whispers and angry shouts from the stands didn't mean anything to him. Just the thought of those lips on his, the way the other boy gasped as Raito touched him so sensuously...

- -

L turned the giant peppermint stick in his hand. Black and red swirls on white, a lightish brown in the center (he vaguely wondered if it was chocolate) looked much like a barber's pole. Behind him, Raito came around the couch and sat on the arm cushion. There were no other seats in the room, so he'd made do with what was available. An arm rested itself atop L's mop of raven locks, distracting him for a split second as he picked at the plastic covering of the candy with his musical fingers.

"You're gonna eat it now?"

"Yes."

"Right after the cake?"

"Naturally, Raito," he grinned, "did you honestly expect for me to be able to hold off on the sweets you gave me?"

A delighted squeal nearly escaped his lips when he finally tore open the tip of the footlong stick of sugar. He happily licked the tip of the stick and slid it into his mouth, closing his eyes and humming happily in his enjoyment. Raito felt his pants grow slightly tighter as he watched L sink into the couch and molest the candy with his tongue.

"L..."

"Hnn?"

Dark eyes opened to see the brunet's face reddening in the cheeks. His teeth nipped at his lower lips as if in restraint.

"Raito, are you alright?"

"I-I... do you remember our senior prank?" he suddenly blurted, wishing to slap himself the moment the words left his lips.

"Yes," L smiled, "What of it?"

"I love you."

The man sitting in the couch blinked. A few silent moments passed and Raito was ready to strangle himself from sheer stupidity. Why had he let that slip? It was obvious that L knew how he'd felt back in highschool, but to come out and actually _say _it was a completely different matter! What if he got rejected like he did last time. What if-

"I always wanted to know how that would have ended if we had gone farther."

Pleasure mixed with shock shot through Raito's conciousness. Moving carefully, he turned to face the man in the couch and looked into the dark, deceptively soulless looking eyes. Staring for a good few minutes, he saw a spark of faltering hope behind those grayish orbs. Carefully, he cupped the other man's cheek with his right hand and brought himself closer to the other man's lips.

He had wondered. Wanted.

_Wanted to know..._

"You did?" he whispered.

"Naturally," L responded with ease, lapping his tongue back out to taste the peppermint stick between them, "I knew how you felt. I felt it too."

"But you ran."

"Because if we had continued, our actions would have bordered on something severely inappropriate for those poor school-childrens' eyes. Believe me when I say that some things cannot be forgotten."

And with those words, L's lips were taken again by his best friend. L moved his hands to the other man's neck, pulling him closer. Raito lost his balance, falling into the plush, strangely roomy couch with a slight 'oof'. They both laughed lightly and adjusted themselves more comfortably with L in Raito's lap. The brunet pressed his lips to L's neck, earning a contented sigh from the other man's lips to his ears.

"Would you like for me to relieve you of our curiosity?" he asked, nipping at the other man's earlobe.

L smiled against his best friend's neck, brushing his lips over the skin lightly, chuckling.

"Would you not like to learn as well of what would have happened when if we'd gone farther?"

And learn, they did.

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Meanwhile, the author of this fic is eating a candy stick just like the one mentioned in the fic while simultaneously sitting like L while she's writing.  
So I just played _The World Ends With You_ and I'm in love with Joshua. Most kick ass character on the DS evar!! Not that it has anything to do with Death Note. Or the holidays. Heh. (Mucho thanks to Accie for lending the game to me. Haha!)

_Bisous, Minikimii_


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